Here are 5 tips to photograph your baby with your phone.

So you just bough a new fancy schmaltzy smart phone and you can’t wait to see how smart it really is — especially given those billboards all over town promising that it will take the BEST photos EVER of your favorites restaurant grub, your dog, and your brand new baby.

Here are 5 tips to photograph your baby with your phone.

Take advice from a professional birth photographer— you need more than a smart phone for smart (meaning beautiful) photos of your wee one and other family members. Here are some simple ways to help that new the camera in your new phone take photos you’ll treasure forever:

Color image by Dear Birth: 5 tips to photograph your baby

#1 The Best Outfits Are Simple and Comfortable.

Every new baby receives ugly, itchy outfits from their relatives and you may feel obliged to have your sweet baby wear them. Toss that guilt to the wind. Photos are forever! Babies are happier if they are comfortable, so skip grandma’s hand-knit wool matinee jacket and pull out the soft comfy clothes your baby can move around in. While you are at it, avoid plaids, small dots, stripes and brand labels. They don’t photograph well! More over, you will absolutely detest trying to fix them in post and you will be begging for your savvy friends to edit them for you. Worst yet, you will never want to see those photos again -yes it is quite this tragic!!

But don’t fret and keep following along this blog about 5 tips to photograph your baby with your phone!

Award winning Los Angeles birth photographer

#2 Go Horizontal.

Unless you are trying to capture your baby climbing a palm tree, don’t shoot with the camera in the vertical position. Photos taken in the horizontal (wide) position are best and give ample space to catching your baby in action — reaching, waving, stretching out.

Black and white image of father holding his son in the air while he laughs and enjoys the ride looking at the camera of Dear Birth in Santa Monica, CA.

#3 Don’t say smile — to Your Baby or Whoever is Holding Him or Her.

There is nothing more counter-productive (or forced) than telling someone to smile for the camera. Instead think of something else to say, whether the subject of your photos is a baby or a grown up, to get their attention and help them smile spontaneously! For a baby, Peek-a-Boo works EVERY TIME!

#4 Shoot quick — that real smile is fleeting before your subjects (at least the older ones) realize they are on camera and return to the fake, forced smile.

A day in the life Black and white image by Los Angeles family photographer Dear Birth

#5 Print Print Print.

Back up your phone frequently and make sure you print the photos you captured on your phone. Making printing a monthly task. Put it on your calendar and set aside and hour to glean and pick and sent to print. Consider creating a photo book. A simple Google of the word “photo books” will give you lots of easy options for creating and printing photo books online.https://vimeo.com/258215120

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